Sunday, June 7, 2009

49ers stadium proposal tests North Bay fans' loyalty

You’re a loyal 49ers fan from Marin or Sonoma County who has faithfully attended 49ers home games at Candlestick Park for years and now 49ers ownership wants to build you a long-overdue new stadium. But there’s a catch.

If the Yorks get their way, you would now have to drive about 80 more miles round-trip and spend maybe 90 more minutes hours on the road in traffic to get there, worse if the team improved to the point that it would get home games on Monday nights.

What would you do? Dance like that old, balding, bi-speckled guy in the Six Flags/Great America commercials?

The Yorks and the city of Santa Clara have taken steps to build a $937 million stadium on the grounds of a Santa Clara theme park, meaning the 49ers are getting closer to being dubbed “Great America’s Team.” Eat that, Dallas Cowboys. The notion of a brand-spanking new stadium for 49ers fans is appealing but for 49ers fans from Marin is an expensive proposition in terms of time and money.

It already costs the Marin/North Bay 49ers fan a $6 bridge toll just to get started and that will undoubtedly increase significantly by the time a stadium is built and opened in Santa Clara in 2014. In addition, the price of gas, parking, tickets and concessions surely will rise by that time to the point that it might cost a family of four in Marin twice as much to attend a 49ers home game in Santa Clara as it does now at Candlestick.